Four bronze statues commemorate Terry Fox's epic run

Four bronze statues of Terry Fox - built to last a thousand years, says sculptor Douglas Coupland - were unveiled Friday on the Terry Fox Plaza at BC Place as a lasting bronze memorial to a genuine Canadian hero.

Together they depict the iconic hopping and shuffling gait Fox adopted as he attempted to run across Canada in 1980 on an artificial leg to raise money for cancer research. A reoccurrence of his own cancer, which had cost him his right leg when he was 18, forced him to quit just east of Thunder Bay, Ont., five months after he began his run in St. John's, N.L.

He died in 1981 at 22 but his Marathon of Hope had raised millions of dollars to fight cancer and had captured the imagination of Canadians from coast to coast. The Terry Fox Foundation has since raised over half a billion dollars for cancer research.

Premier Christy Clark, who along with members of Fox's family including his father Rolly, unveiled the bronze statues, said had Fox lived today his chances of surviving cancer would have been four times greater - a state of affairs due in part to the money raised in his name.

"He challenged us to be better, reach higher and to imagine things we could do that we never thought were possible," said Clark.

Coupland, who designed the custom bronze statues, became friends with the Fox family while writing a book about the runner, called simply Terry.

Rolly Fox paid tribute to the work his wife Betty, who died earlier this year, had gone over the years in raising money for the foundation.

"Betty said there will come a time when those of us who were Marathon of Hope witnesses will not be able to share our personal accounts of how Terry moved us and why. This is why Doug's work has meaning and value as it will help to spread Terry's dream when the Marathon of Hope generation is no longer here and able," he said.

"We do not forget the image of Terry running. It is forever ingrained in you, it leaves you shaken and humbled.

I'm very proud of my son, how he matured though his journey with cancer, how he learned to appreciate life, how he committed his life to helping others.

"The Marathon of Hope raised $24 million for cancer research in 1980 yet Terry was penniless, yet he was rich with the knowledge that he'd tried his very best, that he had run until he could run no more."
The first of the large bronze statues is a life-size sculpture, but each increases in size until the final one is a double life-size statue. It depicts Fox giving his familiar wave to Canadians who, touched by his bravery, would line his route as he passed through their communities.

The bronze statues face Stanley Park, which is where Fox was aiming to end his run. They replace an earlier memorial arch taken down to upgrade the plaza as part of the revitalization of BC Place.
To create the bronze sculptures, Coupland said a video of Fox running was used in order to break down his motion into four components.

The ceremony at the intersection of Robson and Beatty streets drew a couple of hundred spectators and 200 schoolchildren who ran into the plaza wearing Terry Fox T-shirts to mark the 31st national Terry Fox Run, which takes place Sunday in communities across Canada.

Bronze Statue honors heritage of Parkrose

More than a century ago, 10 years before Parkrose even existed, Joe Rossi's great-grandfather immigrated from Italy and bought land in what would become the Northeastern edge of Portland.

The family has farmed the land there ever since while the community has grown and changed.

Now Rossi is leading the charge to celebrate Parkrose's 100th anniversary. And at the heart of the celebration is the unveiling of a bronze statue that will honor the immigrants like his great-grandfather who founded the area -- and the immigrants reshaping the community today and in the future.

The Parkrose Community Foundation will hold its centennial bash on Saturday, Oct. 1, with a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony for the custom bronze statue, an 11:30 a.m. parade and a 12:30 p.m. reception. To whip up enthusiasm and raise money for the Parkrose Outdoor School Program, a 6 p.m. free movie night will take place this Saturday, Sept. 10, at Rossi Farms, 3839 N.E. 122nd Ave.

While the foundation gets ready for the party, Rossi is keeping an eye on the bronze sculpture's progress. The life-size bronze figure, once it leaves the foundry in Boring, will sit on the traffic island at Northeast 98th Avenne and Sandy Boulevard, and serve as a gateway to the community.

Parkrose bronze sculptor James Gion lives about nine blocks from where his bronze artwork will stand. The city of Portland commissioned Gion to produce the bronze columns at the Japanese American Historical Plaza at Gov. Tom MccCall Waterfront Park. He's also done bronze sculptures on display at the Oregon Zoo.

Organizers who have raised $240,000 toward the $300,000 project didn't want a larger-than-life statue in Parkrose. They wanted a man about six feet tall dressed in immigrant garb, standing beside his travel bag, hands on hips, looking North/Northwest toward where the Portland International Airport is now.

The direction is significant because that's where the farm fields and dairies that employed many early Italian, Dutch and German immigrants used to lie.

"We wanted a bronze statue that could look like anybody," Rossi said. "We wanted the image to project humility. It's meant to be a humble being pausing between one world and the other."
Amelia Salvador, who grew up in Parkrose as the daughter of immigrants from the Philippines, agreed.

"This life size statue is my dad," said Salvador, marketing director for the project. "But it's not just my dad. It's meant to represent all the immigrants from the past, and the present, and the future."

The effort for a large bronze statue comes at a time when the Parkrose community is more diverse than ever. The effort also comes as the Parkrose Business Association wants to beautify the area and better establish its identity, Salvador said.

Parkrose has changed a lot since a group of Parkrose businessmen incorporated in 1911.
In the 1920s, some of the farmland that once supplied early Portland's population with food was developed into motels. The motels then became resting places for Portland travelers riding in the automobiles that bumped horses and wagons off Northeast Sandy Boulevard, Parkrose's main road.

The community changed more as more farmland became housing developments.
In the 1960s, the new Banfield interstate led motorists and shoppers to bypass Sandy Boulevard. The Gateway Shopping Center, with its Fred Meyer, pulled customers away from Parkrose mom-and-pop businesses, Rossi said.

Then Portland annexed the area in the 1980s and the community's identity vanished a little more.
But this most meaningful of bronze statues and centennial celebration are changing that, organizers say.

Newcomers and longtime residents alike will be reminded that the area has its own history and heritage.

Chuck Berry statue unveiled in St. Louis

Rock 'n' roll icon Chuck Berry told the crowd on hand for the unveiling of a larger than life size bronze statue in his honor in St. Louis it was "an honor just to have you walk by."
One of the most impressive 8-feet-tall bronze statues, Berry's custom bronze statue currently sits in the city's Delmar Loop. It was sculpted by Harry Weber and will be permanently located in a landscaped, tree-lined plaza in the Delmar Loop, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
"All of you wonderful people, it's an honor to just have you walk by in this hot sun," Berry said to the hundreds of spectators who gathered around him during the statue dedication.
The large bronze statue resulted from the efforts of Joe Edwards, Blueberry Hill owner and founder of the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and Charlie Brennan of KMOX-AM, who headed the campaign to raise money for the $100,000 project.
Shortly before the bronze dedication, Great Rivers Greenway held a ribbon cutting ceremony to introduce the Centennial Greenway, which will be a $1.8 million, 20-mile bike and pedestrian pathway, part of which opened Friday and includes the plaza that features the large statue.
Other entertainment at the custom statue unveiling included performances by the Blues Plus band, the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church Choir and Show-Me Sound Drumline.
"Chuck Berry created a new music expression that inspired generations of young people to find their voice," Weber said. "The bronze statue and Blueberry Hill are bookends to Chuck's 50 years of rock and roll greatness. Thanks, Chuck, for providing the sound track to my youth."

KU football players hope to find some luck with newly installed bronze Jayhawk

A new heroic size bronze statue of the Jayhawk  found its perch Thursday just outside the Anderson Family Football Complex facing the south side of Memorial Stadium.

Athletics officials hope the Jayhawk will create new traditions — football players will rub it for luck before each home football game, similar to other large bronze sculptures in places like the University of Maryland.

The large bronze statue stands about 4 feet high and 4 feet wide, said D.W. Acker, a graphic designer for Kansas Athletics, who helped design the custom bronze statue in two dimensions before collaborating with bronze sculptor John Free, of Pawhuska, Okla., on the final product.

“We wanted it to look exactly like the Sandy Jayhawk,” said Chris Howard, a KU associate athletics director, referring to Hal Sandy’s famous Jayhawk logo design.

That was not as easy as it might seem, Acker said, standing nearby as crews installed the larger than life statue, which cost $48,000 to construct, paid for by Kansas Athletics Inc.

“That was a real challenge, to take a flat image and make a 3-D image out of it,” he said.

Free said he made several trips to Lawrence from Oklahoma to consult with athletics officials. Free, an Oklahoma State alumnus, wasn’t intimately familiar with the Jayhawk logo, so he worked closely with Acker to modify the design throughout the process.

Even though the logo is flipped occasionally, there’s a back side of the Jayhawk that’s never visible, Acker said. A wing, for example, is always covering part of the boot that’s on the ground, he said. Acker said he enjoyed getting to use his imagination to envision what that might look like. Every feather, he said, has a reason for being placed where it is.

“Everybody in the world has seen the Jayhawk from this angle,” he said, looking at one of his favorite custom bronze statues in profile. “You’ve never seen the other side of that Jayhawk.”

Acker said he hoped that fans, players and all manner of Jayhawks would be able to enjoy the bronze statue, which is situated so it’s easy to grab a photo with the Campanile or Fraser Hall in the background.

“I’m always glad to be a part of something that people are going to see and enjoy,” Free said.

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Shaq statue set for September 8th unveiling

A busy three days of activities on and off the LSU campus in conjunction with the first home football game of the 2011 season begins on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 8, when the bronze statue of LSU All-American and college and pro Player of the Year, Shaquille O'Neal, will be unveiled in front of the LSU men's basketball practice facility.

The outdoor portion of the ceremony which the general public is invited to, will begin at 6 p.m. in the L-Lot in front of the main practice facility doors. The facility is attached to the back of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
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There will be VIP receptions and events before and after the bronze sculpture unveiling in the practice facility which are invitation only.

The 900-pound bronze statue is a life-size representation of a young "Shaq" dunking in his LSU basketball uniform.

The "iconic" O'Neal retired from the NBA after the 2011 season, spent with the Boston Celtics. He also played for the Orlando Magic (which drafted him No. 1 in 2002), the Los Angeles Lakers (where he won three championships), the Miami Heat (where he was also an NBA champ), the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He retired ranking fifth all-time in points scored in the NBA and fourth in postseason points scored. He is also the only LSU student athlete in any major sport to win a national player of the year award in college and an MVP award in the pros.

While here that weekend, O'Neal will host his annual fund-raising golf tournament at Carter Plantation on Friday to benefit the Shaquille O'Neal Life Skills Program at LSU. Entries for that tournament are still available through the LSU Life Skills Program office at 225-578-0385.

Also, on Friday, the latest class of the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted that night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Entering the Hall that night will be Seimone Augustus, Skip Bertman, Wendell Davis, Suzette Lee, Carl Maddox and Lloyd Peever.